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Taken from ManGoneBlog (January 3, 2013)
Review: The Sunpilots @ Lomax - 11.12.2012
Review: The Sunpilots w/ The Guardians & Alistair (Maybe?) @ Lomax - 11.12.2012
by Daniel J Berryman
Well the Lomax turned out to be everything I’d heard it was. This recently reopened Liverpool treasure may not be the biggest of venues but its intimacy might well be part of its charm. Well that, and owner Frank Hedges. Charming bloke. Funny bugger too.
So opening the night I believe was a house guitarist working directly for Frank, who may have been called Alistair but I couldn’t quite work it out. Either way, the boyo was spot on – probably one of the finest acoustic singer songwriters I’ve had the pleasure of seeing, and if he plays often then I think I might just become a Lomax regular. With a flavour not dissimilar from Frank Turner and a repertoire of funk, soul, swing and country, I think the Lomax might have bagged themselves a genuine gem here.
Next up were local North West rockers Guardians, with something of an Americano flavour and quite a happy yet heavy sound. The energy and showmanship booming from the stage were copious from the first second and most definitely noteworthy. Hate me as they might for this next comment, but I sensed something of a Nickleback meets the Foo Fighters in their delivery with a performance best suited for such influential stadium rockers. A fully proficient team of performers and musicians who quite rightfully liked to show off their individual talents, of harmonising, tapping and rocker ballet, we’ll hopefully see quite a bit more from Guardians in the future.
Aussie 4-piece The Sunpilots followed their awesome support with no disappointment. Fresh of the tour bus from thrilling Europe one end to the other, this band appear to have taken a leaf from the book of Coheed and Cambria in that their EP tells a story from song to song. Beginning at the start of their album, the lads played through the majority of their release with a couple of unique covers thrown in – a heavy Eleanor Rigby cover to be precise. With a beautiful range of vocals to compliment an equally diverse pallet of musical tones, there was something relaxing and just whole-heartedly fun about watching their performance.
Now I had only downloaded the Sunpilots EP, King of the Sugarcoated Tongues, maybe 2 hours before the gig, but that was more than enough time to get an idea of what I’d be in for. So, with the recording fresh in mind, the first thing to really spring up on me at the gig was that these guys actually sounded perfect. And I can’t really stress that enough. Never before have a seen a live band sound studio produced. But I suppose after 400 shows in 2 years you tend to pick up a few tricks. With some luck we’ll have these guys back as soon as possible, hopefully bringing a much bigger fanfare with them as well. If you see their name crop up anywhere, I can only recommend you stick your head in.
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